What To Do When You Hit Your Gums With Your Toothbrush?
By
Dr Shivam Jha
This blog post will address the question,”what to do when you hit your gums with your toothbrush?” and cover topics like possible causes of gum injury, signs and symptoms of a gum injury, when to see a doctor, healing time of a gum injury, medical treatments available for a gum injury, preventing gum injuries and the correct brushing technique to prevent injury of gums.
What To Do When You Hit Your Gums With Your Toothbrush?
When you hit your gums with your toothbrush, gums may get injured resulting in swelling and redness. It may also bleed if the cut is severe.
When you hit your gums with your toothbrush, you may need to do the following:
- Act to stop the bleeding: When you accidentally hit your gums with your toothbrush, gum being a soft tissue may get cut, swell and bleed. Apply a clean and sanitised cloth to stop bleeding.
- Salt water rinse to prevent infection: Prepare salt water rinse by adding 1 teaspoon of salt to one glass of water. Rinse your mouth to prevent infection.
- Avoid discomforting foods: Too hot, spicy, and citrus foods may irritate the cut on the gums and therefore must be avoided. Try to eat a soft and bland diet for quick healing of the gum.
- Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines: Medicines like ibuprofen and acetaminophen may help reduce the discomfort.
- Cold water rinse: It is recommended to rinse your mouth with cold water to remove any debris near the cut and fasten the healing.
Possible Causes Of Gum Injury
Gum injury may occur due to the following reasons:
- Improper flossing technique
- Using toothbrush with hard-bristles
- Improper brushing technique
- Accidental fall
- Sports injury
Signs And Symptoms of Gum Injury
When you hurt your gum, it may get injured and result in the following signs and symptoms:
- Bleeding: Injury to the gum may cause bleeding as the gums have a rich supply of nerves.
- Redness and swelling initially that later turns white temporarily
- Swelling that burns and pain
- Infection: If left untreated and no precautions are taken, the injury might get infected and worsen your condition
When To See A Doctor
Normally a minor cut will bleed and stop once the pressure is applied using a cloth or cold compress. The redness and swelling will eventually disappear within a week.
However, you need to visit a doctor when:
- Cut is large and the bleeding is not stopped
- Cut is large and requires stitches
- Injury has involved other dental structures along with gums
- Infection has developed at the injury site
- Redness, swelling and discomfort has not subsided even after a week
When Should I Expect My Gum Injury To Heal?
Your gum injury will eventually heal within three to four days if the injury is minor. It may also take a few weeks to heal if the cut is major and has stitches.
The gum has a rich vascular supply and therefore the healing time is quick.
Medical Treatments For A Gum Injury
Gum injuries do heal on their own by following home-remedies like salt water rinse and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen.
However, if the injury is deep or has got infected, it may require medical treatments like:
- Stitches to stop bleeding
- Antibiotics to treat infection
- Tetanus injection to prevent spread of infection to other body organs
How Do I Prevent Mouth Injuries?
Mouth injuries may accidentally happen, follow these preventive steps to avoid a mouth injury:
- Eat slowly to avoid biting your own tongue or cheek
- Do not use teeth to open sharp caps of the bottle
- Get the sharp edges of your braces or aligners fixed
- Make sure you are wearing a mouthguard while playing sports
- Follow correct flossing and tooth brushing techniques
What Is The Correct Tooth Brushing Technique To Follow To Prevent Gum Injury?
Here is how you can brush your teeth with correct technique and avoid gum injury and its discomfort:
- Use a small amount of water to lubricate your brush.
- Put a small, pea-size amount of toothpaste on the toothbrush head.
- At about a 45-degree angle to your gums , place the toothbrush into your mouth
- Use gentle, short strokes to brush your front teeth.
- Brush the outside surfaces as well as the back molars and upper areas of your chewing surfaces.
- Brush the inside surfaces of both top and bottom front teeth by flipping your toothbrush upside down.
- Brush your tongue to get rid of any bacteria or plaque.
- Spit out the remnants of toothpaste, saliva, and water into a clean sink.
- Rinse your mouth with cold water and you are done.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question,”what to do when you hit your gums with your toothbrush?” and covered topics like possible causes of gum injury, signs and symptoms of a gum injury, when to see a doctor, healing time of a gum injury, medical treatments available for a gum injury, preventing gum injuries and the correct brushing technique to prevent injury of gums.
Frequently Asked Questions: What To Do When You Hit Your Gums With Your Toothbrush?
Can a toothbrush cut your gums?
Yes, slipping off a hard-bristled toothbrush may cut your gums and cause it to bleed, swell and redden.
Hence, you must be very precocious while brushing your teeth and follow the correct tooth brushing technique to avoid any type of gum injury.
Do damaged gums heal?
Gums damaged due to a periodontal condition may not heal or return. Once recessed, gums do not grow back.
However, necessary periodontal treatments such as grafting may halt the progression of gum recession and prevent the condition from worsening.
Do not get confused with an injury of gum which quickly heals within three to four days.
What does gum infection look like?
A gum infection may have the following symptoms:
- Red and swollen gums
- Bleeding even on flossing and brushing gently
- Appearance of white spots on the gums
- Persistent foul odour from the mouth
- Gum recession
Does rubbing salt on gums help?
Rubbing salt on gums may irritate the gums and cause its injury. The best way to use salt for gums is to make a salt water rinse.
To prepare a salt water rinse, take one teaspoon of salt in a glass of lukewarm water and rinse thoroughly in your mouth.
Salt water rinse is a natural antiseptic that helps fight gum infections and also prevents any type of oral infections.
References:
How to Identify and Treat a Cut on the Gums – Healthline
Handling Dental Emergencies – WebMD
Why Do My Gums Hurt? Reasons and Treatment for Gum Pain
How To Treat Gum Injuries – Union – iSmile Dental Care
CAN RECEDING GUMS GROW BACK?